Method of making alcohol concentrate

ABSTRACT

One embodiment of the present invention is method for making an alcohol concentrate using a nested batch fermentation process, wherein multiple rounds of wort fermentation, distillation and refortification, is described. The rounds are repeated until the desired concentration of fermented wort is obtained. Another embodiment of the present invention is a method for a continuous fermentation process, wherein portions of the fermentation are distilled and the remaining wort is returned to the active fermentation. This process is repeated until the desired concentration of the fermented wort is obtained. Yet another embodiment of the present invention is a method for extraction of hops compounds, wherein the distilled alcohol from the nested or continuous fermentation process is used.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 61/136,242, filed Aug. 21, 2008.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to alcoholic beverages, and particularlyto a method of making an alcohol concentrate, especially a concentrateof beer, wine, alcohol-base ciders, and the like. The present inventionalso relates to a method for efficient extraction of hops.

2. Description of the Related Art

Beer has long been a favorite recreational beverage among all classes ofpeople. Beer has traditionally been considered a particularly satisfyingbeverage after spending long hours laboring or exerting one's selfoutdoors. There's nothing quite like a cold beer after a long, hard dayworking outdoors. Although water and energy drinks certainly fulfillone's needs for hydration and nutrition, they don't have the tang ofhops or the bite provided by the alcohol in beer. There are some,however, who do not care for beer, but feel the same way towards a glassof wine or alcohol-based cider.

Such beverages, however, have high water content by volume due to therelatively low concentration of alcohol. For the dedicated outdoorsportsman, the high water content of such beverages is a problem becauseit increases the weight. When going hiking, camping, hunting, etc., theweight one has to carry must be minimized. It is often impractical tocarry conventional bottles or cans of beer, wine, or cider on suchovernight trips. Moreover, when shipping large volumes of beer, it isdesirable to minimize freight charges. Although beer concentrates areknown in home brewing, such concentrates are powdered and unfermented,and require considerable time and inconvenience to turn into a potablebeverage.

Some breweries have been known to make a beer concentrate to decreasefreight charges when shipping beer across the country. At itsdestination, the concentrate is reconstituted by diluting theconcentrate with water to obtain the desired alcohol concentration andadding carbonation, as desired. The beer is then packaged for sale. Insuch cases, the beer concentrate is prepared by brewing beer withadditional ingredients to produce a stronger beer that may be dilutedafter shipping. However, the beer concentrate itself is not availablefor sale directly to consumers.

In addition to the benefits of the concentrated beer itself, the processherein described for the production of a beer concentrate has severalcost and energy saving benefits over the traditional process of beerproduction. In conventional beer brewing, a portion of the grain ismalted to convert starches in the grain to sugars. The malt and unmaltedgrains are ground and mixed with hot water in a mash tun to extract thesugars from the grain. The water with the extracted sugars is filteredthrough a screen to remove most of the spent grain husks, and sprayed orsparged with additional water to remove any additional sugar from theremaining grain, husks, leaving a sweet liquid called the wort. The wortis boiled in a kettle, and hops and other flavor additives are added tothe kettle. Boiling removes the bitterness from the hops and sterilizesthe wort by killing wild yeast. The wort is cooled and transferred to afermenter, leaving the spent grain and hops behind.

The wort is brought to a proper temperature (50°-70° F.) to promotefermentation, the wort is aerated or oxygenated, and yeast is pitched oradded to the wort either before or after aeration. Fermentation may takeplace entirely in a single vessel, or in two vessels with repitching ofyeast. Primary fermentation lasts about 3-5 days for ales, and longerfor lagers. The yeast flocculates and falls to the bottom of thefermenter. At this point, most of the simple sugars and maltose willhave been consumed. The fermentation may enter a secondary fermentation,in which the yeast breaks down more complex sugars. Secondaryfermentation may last 1-3 days for ales, but up to one month for lagers.The finished beer is clarified and lagered.

Brewers typically use the boil time in the wort preparation process toachieve and regulate several desirable outcomes. Among the objectives ofthe wort boil are to pasteurize the wort, remove, or at least partiallyremove DMS compounds, and isomerize the bittering resins of the hops.Adequate pasteurization can be achieved in relatively short periods oftime at boiling temperatures. However, DMS removal (or at least partialremoval by evaporation) and hops isomerization and extraction requirelonger periods of time at the sustained temperatures of the rolling wortboil. Therefore, the extraction of the isomerized hops resin adds to thelonger boiling times of most wort preparation. Longer boiling timesmeans more energy invested by the brewer.

The culinary industry has long sought a beer concentrate for theaddition of beer flavor to food. Beer itself contains too much water tobe added to many recipes. Therefore, a beer concentrate is desired toimpart full and authentic beer flavor to food without the undesiredeffects of adding unwanted water.

It would, therefore, be desirable to provide a beer, wine, or ciderconcentrate for purchase by consumers that can be reconstituted bysimply adding water, and possibly carbonation. Thus, a method of makingan alcohol concentrate solving the aforementioned problems is desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method of making an alcoholconcentrate. The concentrate is achieved through a natural but modifiedfermentation process in which a plurality of existing separationtechnologies are employed at specific points within the process to yielda beer that has a very low water concentration, and can, prior toconsumption, be reconstituted with water to yield a beer that is onlylacking in carbonation. Carbonation can then be achieved through anynumber of traditional or novel methods.

One embodiment of the invention is a method for preparing an alcoholconcentrate comprising the steps of: fermenting wort, removing alcoholand aromatics from at least a portion of the fermented wort, andreestablishing the fermentation in the distilled wort by addingadditional fermentation ingredients and additional yeast as needed. Thealcohol and aromatics may be removed in separate or combined streams, ormay be removed under cool or normal temperatures. These steps may berepeated as needed to obtain a desired level of concentration of thefermented wort. The wort is further processed by removing water throughreverse osmosis, evaporation, spray drying, or a combination of theseapplications, and recombining the distilled alcohol and/or aromaticswith the concentrated fermented wort. The alcohol concentrate may bebeer, wine, cider or other fermentable beverages. In another embodimentof the invention, additional flavor ingredients such as, but not limitedto, hop oil and isomerized hop extracts may be added to the concentratedfermented wort.

Another embodiment of the invention is a continuous method for producingan alcohol concentrate, comprising the steps of: fermenting the wortuntil the desired (optimal) rate of fermentation of the wort has beenachieved; diverting a volume of the fermented wort for yeast removal bycentrifugation or filtration; and removing the alcohol and aromatics byvacuum distillation. The distilled portion of the fermentation is thenrefortified by addition of concentrated wort, pasteurized, and returnedto the active fermentation.

Another embodiment of the present invention is a method for efficientlyextracting hops resins, isomerized resins, oils and aromatics and thelike from hops. In this embodiment, hops are added to the distilledalcohol and the pressure and temperature are varied for maximalextraction of hops.

These and other features of the present invention will become readilyapparent upon further review of the following specification.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention relates to a method of making an alcoholconcentrate. The concentrate may be easily carried by hikers, campers,hunters, and the like, and may be reconstituted to form a potablebeverage by hydration with water from streams, lakes, or other naturalsources. The method will be illustrated by reference to a process formaking beer concentrate. The method is similar for a wine concentrate ora cider concentrate. The process for making wine, for example, issimilar to the process for making beer, except that wine is made fromfruits that naturally contain sugar, whereas beer comes from grain andrequires converting the starch in grains to sugar. As used herein, theterm “wort solids” refers to the quantity of fruit (in the case of wine)or grain, malt, and hops (in the case of beer), plus any other flavoradditives from which the wort is prepared.

There are immeasurable variations of ingredients and flavorings that areutilized by the brewing industry. The following process descriptiontherefore does not attempt to encompass all variations of the brewingprocess that are made possible either through ingredients or knownmodifications to the brewing process. Furthermore these steps can beemployed by all nature of fermented beverages (cider, wine, etc) inorder to achieve a concentrate of that specified beverage. In oneembodiment of the method, a basic beer ingredient profile consisting ofmalted barley, hops, water, and brewer's yeast is considered. Moreover,for the purposes of designing a beer concentrate, it is advantageous toutilize concentrated wort (with water already significantly removed).Therefore, all discussion of “wort concentrate” will assume that thewort was prepared through standard procedures dictated by the nature andcharacter of the beer being designed (including: mashing, lautering,sparging, etc.), and then evaporated or spray dried for partial or neartotal water removal. An example of one such commercially availableconcentrated wort that satisfies these basic qualities is “ConcentratedBrewers Wort” made by Briess Malt and Ingredients Company.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the process is largelydivided into three separate phases. The first phase is a “NestedFermentation” cycle in which beer ingredients are added according to thedesired character, flavor, and nature of the end product desired. Nestedfermentation as used herein refers to multiple batches of fermentationusing the same recycled aqueous solution. In this “Nested fermentation”phase of the process, the beer grows in concentration through anoptionally repetitive cycle involving the removal of ethanol and otheraromatics that represent a limiting barrier to the extent offermentation achievable, and thus the final production of alcohol as aresult of fermentation. The brewer must determine how many repetitivecycles of nested fermentation to utilize, and subsequently what thedesired level of concentration of the fermented wort will be. Eachadditional round of nested fermentation naturally results in a greaterdegree of concentration of fermented wort; however each round also coststhe brewer additional time, energy, and resources. Additionally, as thefermented wort becomes more concentrated, the brewer will need tocompensate for the higher starting gravities of the wort during eachsubsequent nesting cycle. This is typically managed through strictadherence to wort nutrition and attention to large healthy yeastpropagations prior to the start of fermentation. However, both of thesecriteria add a complexity and cost to the brewing operation. As thestarting gravity of the wort continues to increase with each nestingcycle, so too does the time required for fermentation. When the benefitsand costs of additional rounds of nested fermentation are considered,the brewer must make a determination as to how many cycles of nestedfermentation will be cost effective, time efficient, and practical giventhe specific nature of the designed beer of interest. In practice,nested ferments with starting gravities of over 1.17 g/ml have beenachieved. However, due to the magnitude of compensations required forthese non-ideal conditions, these fermentations were considered to beimpractical for industrial production purposes. Largely speaking, it isrecommended that when the investment of resources allocated to achieveadditional levels of concentration through the nested fermentationprocess equals those required to achieve that same increase inconcentration through a selected/specified water removal process (to bedescribed here after), the brewer abandon the nested fermentationprocess in favor of direct water removal. At this point the brewer hasachieved the desired level of concentration of fermented wort throughthe nested fermentation phase.

The second phase of the process requires water to be extracted andremoved from the de-alcoholized beer by reverse osmosis, evaporation,spray drying, or a combination of these processes. Removing waterthrough a reverse osmosis, evaporation, or spray drying processes iswell known to one of ordinary skill in the art. The third phase of theprocess requires the reuniting of previously separated and processedcomponents of the beer process, other than the intentionally removedwater. In this phase, the concentrated “bottoms” product is mixed withthe alcohol and aromatics that were removed during the nestedfermentation cycle, thus combining all components of the fermentationprocess, except for the water previously removed by reverse osmosis,evaporation, or spray drying. During this last phase of the processadditional flavorings can also be added, such as hop oils/extracts, tomodify the flavor profile of the beer. A more detailed description ofnested fermentation, water removal, and reconstitution of the separatedcomponents are given in the description below.

The concentrated or non-concentrated wort is prepared throughtraditional wort preparation steps or by the addition of concentratedwort, hops, if desired, for anti-microbial effects or early bittering,water, and any required nutritional additives. A yeast slurry isprepared with a proportionately appropriate cell count designed for thevolume and specific gravity considerations of the wort. This yeastslurry is propagated in an oxygenated environment that is fortified withminute doses of olive oil, both of which are known to the brewingindustry to help support robust and healthy cellular material in yeast.If the volume of the yeast slurry is determined to be greater than thevolume desired to be added to the wort, the yeast slurry can be chilledto cause the yeast to floculate and settle to the bottom of theircontainer. The clarified wort, separated from the yeast cake, can thenbe decanted, leaving the yeast cake intact. A small amount of oxygenatedwort can be added to this yeast cake and mixed while the slurry returnsto active temperatures and the yeast resumes active/observablemetabolism. This now-concentrated yeast is then pitched to the wort.Although the wort may be aerated during the initial fermentation cycle,subsequent fermentations within the nested fermentation cycle shouldavoid the aeration of the newly prepared wort. This is due to thepotential for adverse oxidative effects of the post-fermentationde-alcoholized beer components.

The beer is preferably fermented for approximately 6-7 days. After ithas undergone a diacetyl rest, it is processed for the removal ofsuspended yeast. This can be accomplished by either centrifugation orfiltration. The beer is then processed through vacuum distillation toremove the delicate aromatics, and the alcohol (primarily ethanol).Depending on the degree of concentration of these “top products” the twodistillate streams can either be combined and stored for a lateraddition to the concentrated de-alcoholized beer, or they can be storedseparately if it is desired for either of them to undergo additional,separate processing. Additional processing options include, but are notlimited to: steeping vegetative hops products in the distilled ethanolunder high pressure/temperature in a closed system for bittering andaromatic hops addition, or further distillation of ethanol to increaseits degree of concentration.

There are many vacuum distillation systems known to the brewing industrythat can function for this separation process. Some employ spinningcones that create a thin film of material that is warmed and exposed tovacuum conditions, while others employ rising/falling film systems thatare subjected to vacuum conditions. These systems are used primarily forthe production of non-alcoholic, or low-alcohol beer. Regardless ofbasic design considerations, the essential components and modificationsof this equipment must support the near total removal of aromatics andalcohols under low temperature conditions. The equipment may furthermorebe modified to reclaim the aromatic distillate and ethanol distillatestreams separately, nearly completely, and to a high level ofconcentration.

Once the alcohol and aromatics have been separated, collected, andstored according to the design and desire of their further processing,additional concentrated wort can be added and blended with thede-alcoholized beer. The de-alcoholized beer will still have residual,isomerized bittering hops compounds present, if initially added, fromthe first fermentation cycle, and will also have the water that was usedduring the first fermentation cycle. Some water will have been removedduring the vacuum distillation process, and therefore a small amount ofwater will need to be added to the wort. However, the yeast slurry,potentially concentrated through chilling/decanting as describedpreviously, that is added after pasteurization will increase the totalvolume of the wort, and should be considered before additional water isadded. The concentration achieved through the nested fermentation cycleis derived from the re-utilization of brewing water to effectively layeror “nest” multiple batches of beer within the same recycled volume ofaqueous medium.

The wort is then pasteurized by UV exposure, irradiation, or otherviable pasteurization methods that do not degrade the matrix ofthermally sensitive flavor components that are residuals from theprevious round(s) of fermentation. However, if there are hop bitteringcompounds in the wort, UV exposure should be avoided. Such methods wouldbe readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art. Thepropagated/prepared yeast is then pitched to the wort, and a new roundof fermentation is initiated.

Each time a beer undergoes these sequential steps, it will become denser(increasing its specific-gravity) due to the remainder ofnon-fermentable ingredients and non-distillable (bottoms) productsderived from the fermentation process. The steps of the nestedfermentation cycle are repeated until the starting gravity of the wortbecomes a limiting factor to the efficiency of fermentation(unproductively high starting gravity), or the brewer otherwisedetermines that the desired level of concentration of fermented wort hasbeen achieved, and is therefore ready to move to the water removal phaseof the concentration process.

During the beer's final nested fermentation cycle, the beer istransferred to a secondary fermenter for an additional period of time(approximately 5-7 days) immediately after completion of the primaryfermentation and diacetyl rest. This allows for clarification and morecomplete fermentation of the beer, which is referred to as fullattenuation.

It is important to note that the nested fermentation cycle is notessential to creating a beer concentrate. This embodiment of theinvention makes it possible to take beer from its very first passthrough the vacuum distillation process and immediately move thede-alcoholized product down line for water removal (reverse osmosis,evaporation, or spray drying). However, the effect of the nestedfermentation loop is that, by re-using the same volume of water formultiple fermentation cycles, the brewer invests very little energy tothe system to gain significant yields in concentration. The energydemands of removing the relatively small quantity of alcohol andaromatics through vacuum distillation are significantly less than theenergy demands of water removal (larger volume, and lower vaporpressure) under vacuum conditions. Furthermore, several acceptablepasteurization methods exist that allow the brewer to loop thede-alcoholized and refortified beer back through additional fermentationcycles without the need of bringing the product to higher temperatures,as is done in traditional wort preparation and heat pasteurizationprocesses.

Table I illustrates the degree of nesting with the associated degree ofconcentration achieved through the nesting phase of the concentrationprocess. A first-degree nested beer is one that has undergone only oneround of fermentation, and has then passed through the vacuumdistillation phase, thus offering no gains in concentration.

TABLE I Degree of Nesting Beer concentrate: Starting Gravity EndingGravity Rehydrated beer Degree Nested (g/ml) (g/ml) (by volume) 1 1.051.012 1:1 2 1.062 1.024 1:2 3 1.074 1.036 1:3 4 1.085 1.047 1:4

The beer industry has long been aware of the benefits to brewing beerconcentrates. Many large brewing companies utilize these advantages toreduce transportation costs of large shipments. It is not uncommon forlarge brewers to craft their beer with additional ingredients in orderto yield a stronger, more concentrated, product. This more concentratedproduct can then be shipped, and upon reaching the point of bottling ordistribution, water and carbonation are added so that the end product isreflective of the qualities desired in the designed beer.

These basic procedures can be incorporated into the nested fermentationcycle to produce even greater concentrations in shorter periods of time.For example, by adding 50% more concentrated wort to the start of afermentation cycle; the resulting beer will yield 50% more alcohol,aromatics, and other characteristic beer flavor components. The brewermust be careful not to over fortify the wort with too much additionalfermentable ingredient. To do so would create the obvious difficulty ofa high gravity environment coupled with the potential for unachievablelevels of alcohol (largely dictated by the strain of yeast being used),which would thereby render the beer under-attenuated through anunattainable fermentation demand. Table II illustrates these findingsand associated gains in the level of concentration of the product whenadditional ingredients are added. In this profile, even a first-degreenested beer yields a degree of concentration, relative to the increasedpercentage of fermentable ingredients.

TABLE III Effect of Starting Gravity Beer concentrate: Starting GravityEnding Gravity Rehydrated beer Degree Nested (g/ml) (g/ml) (by volume) 11.075 1.018   1:1.5 2 1.093 1.036 1:3 3 1.111 1.054   1:4.5 4 1.1291.071 1:6

Regardless of how many nesting fermentation cycles the beer undergoes,or what level of concentration is achieved as a result of the nestedfermentation cycles, the de-alcoholized beer still contains considerableweight and volume of water. This water must be removed to furtherincrease the level of concentration of the product.

In the second phase of this embodiment of the invention, thede-alcoholized beer, either partially concentrated through the nestedfermentation cycle or not, is drawn through an evaporation or spraydrying process, thereby removing either significant or nearly totalquantities of water. Both processes yield benefits and disadvantages.Spray drying is advantageous due to the almost complete removal of waterfrom the product, but has been perceived to offer slight flavoringdisadvantages, partly due to the operating temperatures of most spraydrying equipment. Also, spray drying typically uses substantially moreenergy than evaporation. Low temperature evaporation conducted undervacuum helps protect delicate flavors of the product, but does notremove as much water as the spray drying process. It is thereforeenvisioned that these two separation techniques will be evaluated by thebrewer with the desired qualities of the end product and their separatelimitations in mind. In addition or alternatively to the aforementionedwater removal options of evaporation and spray drying, reverse osmosesoffers the brewer an energy saving option for the removal of notablequantities of water. Although reverse osmoses has not reviled itself tobe as effective as evaporation or spray drying in its ability to removewater from the fermented wort concentrate, it does offer some advantagesdue to its relatively low capital and operational costs. Additionally,by integrating a reverse osmosis water removal process prior to a moresubstantial water removal processes (as in evaporation or spray drying),the brewer can reduce the energy demands of the water removal phase ofthe process, while still achieving a high degree of water removal. Theutilization of reverse osmosis systems in the brewing industry isreadily known to one who is skilled in the art. In particular, reverseosmoses is a process sometimes used in the production of non alcoholicor low alcohol beers.

In the third phase of this embodiment of the invention, the remainingconcentrate, with water removed, must be reunited with the alcohol andaromatics that were removed during the previous nested fermentationcycles. The concentrated/de-alcoholized beer is blended with thedistilled/collected alcohol (primarily ethanol) and distilled/collectedaromatics recovered through the vacuum distillation steps performedduring the nesting fermentation phase of the process. Additional flavorcomponents can also be added (such as hop oil, or isomerized hopsextract) to adjust the final flavor profile of the beer.

This concentrated product now represents the naturally fermented,desirable beer flavoring components with the majority of water removedfrom the system. The product is ready for packaging and transportationin its efficiently concentrated state. To prepare the beer forconsumption, an appropriately measured volume of water is added to thebeer concentrate based upon the final degree of concentration of theproduct. The beer is then carbonated appropriately to support thedesired flavor profile of the designed beer. Alternatively, the watercan be carbonated prior to blending with the beer concentrate, as istypical of soda fountain dispensers.

Another embodiment of the invention provides for continuousfermentation. The nested fermentation process described previouslyoutlines a batch process. It is also desired to have available acontinuous operation that would reduce/remove the lag time typicallyassociated with the first 24-48 hours of fermentation. The followingmodifications to the nested fermentation process allow the brewer toutilize a continuous process in order to achieve an alcohol concentrate.The continuous operation is basically parallel in format to the batchprocess, except that fermentation remains active while only a portion ofthe fermentation is removed for yeast removal, vacuum distillation,refortification of ingredients, pasteurization, and return to thefermenter.

In the continuous method, a batch of green beer is allowed to proceeduntil a desired rate of fermentation is reached. “Green beer,” as usedherein, refers to a fermented but unfinished beer. In this applicationthe desired rate of fermentation is understood to be the peak rate ofobservable anaerobic yeast metabolism for the current/dedicated volumeof ferment. A brewer can observe and keep record of a beers rate offermentation through a myriad of techniques known to the industry. Threecommon methods involve frequent gravity (density) measurements beingtaken by use of a hydrometer, use of a refractometer to track theconcentration of available sugars in the ferment, or by the observanceof CO2 (which is a product of fermentation) production during thefermentation. By comparing subsequent measurements over closely recordedperiods of time, these methods provides the brewer with a means ofdetermining the rate of metabolic activity of the yeast, and can therebybe used in determining when the peak, desired rate of fermentation hasbeen achieved.

When the desired rate of fermentation has been observed, a volume ofgreen beer is then diverted for yeast removal by centrifugation orfiltration. These yeast removal techniques are known and standard in theart. Next, ethanol and aromatics are removed from the green beer throughvacuum distillation, as described previously. The de-alcoholized greenbeer is then refortified with concentrated wort, pasteurized, andreturned to the fermenter where the remainder of the green beer is stillactively undergoing fermentation. Additional yeast may be pitched toreplace the yeast that was removed during centrifugation/filtration.Excessive build-up of dead yeast material should be continuously removedfrom the bottom of the fermenter. By regulating the frequency and volumeof the green beer that is removed for processing, the brewer canmaximize and sustain the rate of fermentation to reduce residency timesof the fermentation equipment, thereby increasing efficiency.

Once the green beer within the fermenter has reached the desired levelof concentration, or the specific-gravity has become too great toefficiently support additional fermentation, it is held in the primaryfermenter long enough as to support a sufficient diacetyl rest. It isthen transferred to a secondary fermenter, where it is allowed toclarify and fully attenuate. Upon completion of the secondaryfermentation, the entire volume is transferred through the yeast removaland de-alcoholization (vacuum distillation) process. The concentrate canthen be processed through the water removal steps described previously.

By processing the green beer that is removed for de-alcoholization in aclosed sanitary (and sanitized) system, the brewer can greatly minimizethe need for pasteurization of the de-alcoholized green beer prior toreturning it to the fermenter. In this case the concentrated wort thatis used to refortify the de-alcoholized green beer can be pasteurizedseparately. This concentrated wort is less susceptible to thermaldegradation than the green beer itself, and may alternatively be addeddirectly to the fermenter as the processed de-alcoholized green beer isreturned. Furthermore, by maintaining an ongoing fermentation with ahigh healthy yeast cell count, the brewer minimizes the likelihood ofmicrobial contaminations taking root within the fermenting green beer.

By modifying the nested fermentation cycle to operate continuously at,or near, peak fermentation, the brewer minimizes the residence time ofthe green beer, thereby reducing the overall time required to completethis phase of the concentration process.

Either of the aforementioned methods (batch or nested fermentation) canbe modified for efficient extraction of hops oils, aromatics, resins,bitters and other desirable components from hops. Hops are one of thedominant flavoring ingredients in beer. Many varieties exist, and areselected by the brewer based upon a number of criteria. Some arepreferred for their bittering qualities, while others possess desirablearomatic benefits. In addition to adding flavor and aroma to the beer,hops are also known to posses anti-microbial benefits, thus helpingprevent the finished beer from becoming infected with adverse biologicalagents. Hops is traditionally considered one of the most underutilizedingredients in beer, meaning that only a small percentage of the desiredqualities of the hops plant are extracted through the traditionalbrewing process. More time, higher heat, and better solvents all yieldgains in hops extraction efficiency. Unfortunately traditional brewersare limited to a large extent by the disadvantages of the traditionalbrewing process, where, other than time, these variables are largelystatic. The upper temperature of hops extraction for most brewingoperations is the boiling temperature of water, with compensation forelevation. The solvent used for the hops extraction is simply the waterof the wort. Time is the only variable that is readily manipulated tocreate variations in hops extractions, and is used by brewers tocustomize a beer's hops profile.

In contrast to these traditional limitations, the batch or continuousmethods can be modified to allow hops to be extracted through a noveland efficient mechanism whereby the hops (whole leaf, pellet, or othervegetative form) are added to the entire amount of collected (distilled)alcohol. Thus, the brewer is able to use the very same ethanol that wasproduced during fermentation as the solvent for the extraction of hops.Ethanol is far superior for this purpose than water, and by creating aclosed system that is held under pressure, the brewer can increase thetemperature of the system beyond the boiling temperature water to allowan even greater yield of desired hops components. By adjusting thepressure of the closed system, the brewer can manipulate both time andtemperature of the hops extraction process. It is recommended that thepressure of the system be selected and maintained based upon the desireto limit the amount of ethanol and aromatic compounds that contributethe vapor phase of the closed system during the extraction process atthe targeted extraction temperature. It is further recommended thatnitrogen be used to establish pressure within the closed system prior toheating of the system. Nitrogen is preferred for its inert qualities.The duration of the extraction may vary, depending on the temperatureand pressure used. Furthermore, the closed system allows the brewer tocapture the delicate hops oils (aroma compounds), that are usually lostwhen hops are boiled for long periods of time as in an open wort boil.At the end of the extraction process the hops and ethanol mixture iscooled, the pressure is slowly relieved, and the vegetative hopsmaterial can be separated from the extraction solvent. By chilling theliquid prior to relieving the pressure, the brewer assures that minimalaromatics are lost as vapor. These advancements and options in hopsextraction collectively represent an alternative higher degree ofefficiency of hops utilization to the brewer, thereby reducing thequantity of hops needed to achieve the desired hops character in thedesigned beer. With hops being a large and volatile cost within the listof beer ingredients, this efficiency represents a significant costsavings to the brewing process.

It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to theembodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodimentswithin the scope of the following claims.

I claim:
 1. A method for making an alcoholic beverage concentrate, comprising the steps of: (a) fermenting wort in a fermentation tank until a rate of fermentation has been reached thereby forming an unfinished alcoholic solution; (b) diverting a volume of the unfinished alcoholic solution; (c) extracting and storing alcohol and aromatics from the diverted volume, thereby forming a de-alcoholized bottom product; (d) adding the de-alcoholized bottom product back to the fermentation tank; (e) repeating steps (a), (b), (c), and (d) until a final solution is obtained.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the wort is a wort for beer.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the wort is a wort for wine.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: blending the extracted alcohol and aromatics of step (b) with the final solution of step (e) to form an alcoholic beverage concentrate.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein step (c) further comprises the step of distilling the alcohol and aromatics in separate streams.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of removing water from the final solution of step (e).
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: using the distilled alcohol from step (c) to extract hops.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the final solution of step (e) has a specific gravity greater than or equal to 1.075 g/ml.
 9. A method for making an alcoholic beverage, the method comprising: creating a first fermented wort, wherein creating the first fermented wort comprises performing a first fermentation process using a first wort, and wherein the first fermented wort has a first specific gravity; creating a first bottom product by removing a first collection of alcohol and aromatics from the first fermented wort; creating a second fermented wort, wherein creating the second fermented wort comprises adding fermentation ingredients to the first bottom product and performing a second fermentation process using the combination of the first bottom product and the fermentation ingredients, and wherein the second fermented wort has a second specific gravity that is greater than the first specific gravity; and creating an alcoholic beverage concentrate, wherein creating the alcoholic beverage concentrate includes combining the second fermented wort with at least a portion of the first collection of alcohol and aromatics.
 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising: creating a second bottom product by removing a second collection of alcohol and aromatics from the second fermented wort; and creating a concentrated bottom product by removing water from the second bottom product; wherein creating the alcoholic beverage concentrate includes combining the concentrated bottom product with at least a portion of previously removed alcohol and aromatics, including at least a portion of the first and/or second collections of alcohol and aromatics.
 11. The method of claim 10 wherein removing water from the second bottom product is accomplished by reverse osmosis, evaporation, or spray drying.
 12. The method of claim 10 wherein creating the concentrated bottom product further comprises adding flavor components.
 13. The method of claim 9 wherein the additional flavor components are selected from the group consisting of hop oil, hop aromatics, hop extracts, hop bitters and isomerized hops extract.
 14. The method of claim 9, further comprising: combining hops with alcohol from the first collection of alcohol and aromatics in a closed system; and adjusting pressure and temperature of the closed system to control extraction of the hops.
 15. The method of claim 9, further comprising: creating an alcoholic beverage, wherein creating the alcoholic beverage comprises-adding water to the alcoholic beverage concentrate.
 16. The method of claim 9 wherein removing the first collection of alcohol and aromatics comprises removing the alcohol and the aromatics in separate streams.
 17. The method of claim 9 wherein the fermentation ingredients comprise a second wort.
 18. The method of claim 9 wherein the alcoholic beverage concentrate is a beer concentrate.
 19. A method for making an alcoholic beverage, the method comprising: creating a first fermented wort, wherein creating the first fermented wort comprises performing a first fermentation process using a first wort; creating a first bottom product by removing a first collection of alcohol and aromatics from the first fermented wort; creating a second bottom product that is denser than the first bottom product, wherein creating the second bottom product comprises: creating a second fermented wort, wherein creating the second fermented wort comprises adding first fermentation ingredients to the first bottom product and performing a second fermentation process using the combination of the first bottom product and the first fermentation ingredients; removing and collecting a second collection of alcohol and aromatics from the second fermented wort; creating a concentrated bottom product, wherein creating the concentrated bottom product comprises removing water from the second bottom product; and creating an alcoholic beverage concentrate, wherein creating the alcoholic beverage concentrate includes combining the concentrated bottom product with at least a portion of previously removed alcohol and aromatics, including at least a portion of the first and/or second collections of alcohol and aromatics.
 20. The method of claim 19, wherein creating the second bottom product further comprises: creating a third fermented wort, wherein creating the third fermented wort comprises adding second fermentation ingredients to the second bottom product and performing a third fermentation process using the combination of the second bottom product and the second fermentation ingredients; removing and collecting a third collection of alcohol and aromatics from the third fermented wort.
 21. The method of claim 19 wherein the first fermentation ingredients comprise a second wort. 